|
The Need For Speed (6/3/99)
|
 
|
| | |
Let's face it: speed sells. More specifically, the illusion of speed sells. When the average consumer is picking out a computer to buy, one factor is always going to be MHz, whether he or she actually needs the speed or not. How many times have we heard the iMac reduced to the question "what's the big deal about a $1299 (or $1199) computer that's only 233 (or 266 or 333) MHz?" Never mind that the 233 MHz G3 will smoke one of those Celeron thingies running at a much higher clock speed. Heck, if you believe Apple, it even smokes the fastest Pentium III's-- but we don't expect you to be quite that accepting. The point is, benchmarks and performance in real-world applications probably don't mean as much as the raw MHz rating when it comes right down to the cash register. In fact, the very knowledge that a 550 MHz Pentium III even exists might push a consumer to buy a Wintel system-- even if he or she's just getting a 300 MHz Celeron machine.
It's a real testament to Intel's engineers that they keep managing to crank more and more clock cycles out of such an aging chip architecture; in terms of raw clock speed, everyone expected the RISC-based PowerPC to take the lead, but that just hasn't happened. Sure, there was a brief period starting with the point at which the 604e in the Power Computing PowerTower Pro 225 had a 25 MHz edge over the then-current 200 MHz Pentium Pro, but these days Apple's just unveiled a G3/450 while Pentium III's are running at up to 100 MHz faster. It's a marketing perception problem. Will Apple ever take the MHz lead?
Maybe. Mac OS Rumors claims that Motorola and IBM just might have test versions of 600 MHz G3s available in time for Macworld Expo next month-- but they'll only be for demo purposes, obviously. At that time, it's rumored that Apple will begin to ship 500 MHz Macs, which ought to be faster than most human beings can endure-- but it still loses the MHz race. It's a good thing that Apple products have so many other ways in which to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack-- style, ease of use, etc.-- but wouldn't it be great to have an uncontestable speed advantage as well?
| |
| |
 |
SceneLink (1579)
|  |
 |
|
And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
| | | |
|
| |
|
 | | The above scene was taken from the 6/3/99 episode: June 3, 1999: Jesse Berst unwittingly declares the iMac to be "next year's computer." Meanwhile, rumors fly about the possibility of a nationwide chain of retail Apple stores, and while a 600 MHz G3 processor is in the works, Wintels still win the MHz wars...
Other scenes from that episode: 1577: Bersting With Enthusiasm (6/3/99) For the most part, we at AtAT aren't huge fans of Jesse Berst's AnchorDesk over at ZDNet; it's usually very Wintel-crowd-centric, and the hot air factor can be high. But we do tune in every once in a while to see what's up, just for balance's sake, and so we were intrigued to see his prognostications about all the cool new features that'll be making their way into PCs next year-- amazing, jaw-dropping features that he claims will make all PC owners drool all over themselves and race to the store, credit cards in hand... 1578: I'd Also Like A Pony (6/3/99) Best Buy's attempts to get into the iMac game were laughable-- or they would have been, if they hadn't been so terribly sad. The Sears rollout is off to a bumpy start, with some units on display with no demo software, no marketing materials, and a price tag $100 higher than even the Apple Store price...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
|
|
